Effect of IRL Recession on MMOs??

[Pink]

I think it defenately effects the gameplay in certain way...
Ppl wopn't play less thats for sure...But they will play more economic.
You also see a lot of ppl selling thier high end gear and such things, and they are on auction, sales threads a lot longer then they used to be.

If u were selling a DOA rockjacker for example 2 yrs ago you would have a buy in1 day, now it might take weeks..


As is said, they won't play less, they will just spent more time chatting, hanging around and play economic and try to take advantage of the free things that the game offers (sweating, fruits, stone inside entropia universe)
So there will be less depositing.

Also, HW i don't think it's all to blame on the recession, but also with all the new things going on ppl want to save up for that, they are excited, they rather spend 100 dollars in the future on exploring new planets, new gameplay and new features then spending it on something they already know.

So what u will see is a lot of new players being very active, and exploring our Universe, while the older players like you and me, will do our thing in a more strategic way... we want to find out what lays ahead of us, and how we can take as much possible advantage of that sitiation in a possitive mindset.

Pink

[rumsponge]

Originally Posted by Knuckles

Agreed but skilling events aint the way to do it since that makes the losses in markups on items more hard on some when they see they also lost anything from 20 to 80% of their skillvalue after esi

Plus, it smacks of desperation.

[seanjohn]

Originally Posted by HardWrath

The only MMORPG that I play is the Entropia Universe, so with other games I have no idea how the IRL recession has impacted them, specifically those with a real cash economy.

I have seen how it has impacted the EU a little bit. The game is by no means dying but the value of some things has gone down and things have slowed a bit for some.

Being a very active trader, and runing a soceity that has traders, pilots, shop owners, land owners, stylists, employees, event promoters, crafters, hunters, miners, etc etc, I see how it has affected some groups of people. I also think we are very near the bottom of the devaluation of items. I suspect in about 1-2 months we will see things starting to stabalize and go back up but in a more slow and healthy way.

What have the rest of you seen?

I definately think that MMO's are droppign because of the economy. They dont have money to pay for things. It is rough times. We will get through it hopefully soon??

[HardWrath]

Originally Posted by seanjohn

I definately think that MMO's are droppign because of the economy. They dont have money to pay for things. It is rough times. We will get through it hopefully soon??

I think everything is taking a hit right now, at least a little.

There are some signs that the IRL economy is near its bottom and when we hit bottom, things will start to boom again shortly afterwards.

[Ze-Tomb]

Originally Posted by HardWrath

I think everything is taking a hit right now, at least a little.

There are some signs that the IRL economy is near its bottom and when we hit bottom, things will start to boom again shortly afterwards.

We can only hope so!
Well, lets just keep on rolling and have the MMO economies moving.

[Pip]

Originally Posted by rumsponge

Plus, it smacks of desperation.

Which in turn makes players more worried, more unwilling to risk what they have and less likely to deposit/spend more.

[AetasSerenus]

As certain MMOs are quite coupled with reality, a certain dropoff of the reccession is only awaited.. and I have indeed noticed some tendacies within Eu, but some of them are also due to dropping patience and a cryengine that never comes..

[Jambayze]

I have no idea what my own experience will do to impact game manufacturers "bottom line" But here it is.

Last couple of years were good for me, I had no problem buying a new game CD once in a while, tried a few subscription online games, and got hooked on Entropia last January. Since I found EU, everything else paled in comparison, and I deposited plenty telling myself "hey it's my entertainment dollar just like a movie or a play or a sports game or a hobby." and "It's an investment ... the more skills I have, the more proficient I am and the better the return of that investment."

But now things are different. About August, things started to go downhill. Oh I am working all right, but overtime and "extra" work dried up. The direct result of that is that instead of depositing $20 to play some more Entropia in my (now more) free time, I look for alternatives. I cruise the interweb looking for games to play. (check it out I am on this forum instead of Entropia forum ... oops) I am not going to give up Gaming until I have to. I just cannot afford it the way I did in the past. $20 last May would've given me a week of playtime or more if I got some good loot. Maybe more if a nice glowie happened. $10 now gives me maybe three 2 hour sessions a week on EU with a guaranteed loss.

See, some people compare EU to a casino, and I can see why. But the casino is smarter, they tease you with some small wins to make you feel like a winner. EU doesn't do it right. You either win a 33,000 ped hof (I've seen several) or 7 "no loots" in a row followed by a big mob dropping 100 mineral oil after a vicious fight. They should encourage NOT TT'ing stuff because it's better to use it to improve desirability of the final product. NOW here's how it works: spend 100 peds to buy bombs, probes, and ammo. Use all that up to produce 75 peds worth of usable materials to craft 50 peds worth of goods that nobody wants and build skills by 2 or 3 points. Right. Who wants Basic filters? They don't do anything! You can't use them anywhere! And to be a colourer, the first colour you learn is ORANGE! Who wants to spend money buying an orange suit when they give you one for free at the start of the game? I bet if the first colour was, say, purple, I could sell a few Basic pattern pants in purple to folks to at least break even. but no.

Back on topic: So now that we have established that $10 doesn't last ingame the way it used to, what does it mean? Oh Entropia is still as fascinating as it ever was, better than just about any game out there, and it is not even really, a "game". Cool. But it is very expensive. There are so many "Free" games out there. And you can play THE WHOLE GAME free. Not just suck sweat off ugly animals, you get ships, weapons, clothes and armour FREE. Even if they say they are "Free" but have an "Item Shop" we are talking $5 or $6 a pop for really big returns. In EU $5 will get you 500 bullets. That is all. Good luck mate!! Have fun for, erm 15? 20? minutes?

So I say Entropia is killing the Goose that layed the golden Egg.

Why do I care? Why don't I just quit? Because Entropia i cooler than any other game I have played. but ... can I afford it? no, not the way i want to play it. Do I think other games can take it's place? yup. Is a Chevy as good as a Cadillac? nope. Will it get you there just the same? yup.

Bottom line is this: I will still "game" as much on my computer as ever ...Just depends on the games that are out there ...